An efficient solar power converter with high MPP tracking accuracy for rural electrification

Abstract

This paper introduces a high step up voltage gain DC-DC converter for dc microgrid applications. The dc microgrid can be utilized for rural electrification. The whole system includes a Photovoltaic panel (PV), High step up DC-DC converter with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) and a dc microgrid. The MPP can be tracked by Incremental Conductance (IC) MPPT technique modified with D-Sweep (Duty ratio Sweep). D-sweep technique reduces the problem of multiple local maxima. In this paper a high step up DC-DC converter which comprises of both coupled inductor and switched capacitors is used. This increases the gain up to twenty times with high efficiency. The Simulink model of the system has input voltage range of 30V to 40V and maximum PV output power of 250Watts/400V. The maximum power conversion efficiency of the system is 95.85%.